Cisco Systems and Lenovo are holding executive-level discussions about a potential powerhouse partnership, The VAR Guy has learned. Their mutual goal: Knock out Hewlett-Packard in the server, PC and networking markets. Here’s the scoop.

According to sources close to both Cisco and Lenovo, the discussions have involved top Lenovo brass traveling to Cisco’s headquarters. “The companies have virtually no product overlap and a mutual enemy in Hewlett-Packard,” notes one source in the know.

This could get very interesting. During the Cisco Partner Summit in June 2009, Cisco declared war against Hewlett-Packard. The move came amid Cisco’s push into the server market and HP’s growing channel efforts with the ProCurve networking business. Also, HP continues to integrate ProCurve networking with HP servers. And, HP is partnering with Microsoft on Unified Communications.

Sharing A Common Foe

Fast forward to the present and Cisco and Lenovo are discussing joint marketing and sales strategies. One source says the partnership is official. Another says certain details are pending. Both sources agree: Cisco and Lenovo will team to attack HP. Potential moves could involve integrating Cisco’s unified communications offerings with Lenovo’s desktop and mobile devices — which increasingly feature VoIP capabilities.

At first glance, some pundits might suggest that Cisco and Lenovo overlap a bit in the server market. But so far, Cisco’s server and unified computing efforts seem to be all enterprise, all the time — while Lenovo’s server efforts are for smaller and midsize businesses. Translation: Not much overlap, if any, there.

More details as they emerge.

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